Slicing the money pie or helping kids make wise choices

June 18th, 2014 at 11:29 am

My younger daughter is 15 and heading into the 10th grade. And she is contemplating a school switch. She's a bright girl who is on scholarship at her present Catholic high school. The nice thing is her scholarship goes with her and funds about 50% of the tuition (she had a $600 sibling discount at the old school, and new school is $600 less in tuition, so that is a wash.)

She's trying out for the pom squad on Saturday (she loves to dance and this will be a great opportunity for her should she decide to attend this new school). I gave her the paperwork about the camp and uniforms. She didn't read it until later and came down rather upset, asking if I knew how much this would cost ($150 for the camp and $400 for uniforms which they'd need to measure and order right away for the team in the fall). I said I knew how much it would cost because I read the papers before giving them to her.

She got to work straight away figuring how to help defray the costs of the transition to the new school. No new Irish dance shoes which she needs badly (won't give that up) as they can go to the shoe repair for new heels. Uniforms/books - she sent an email to the mother of my older daughter's best friend who attend the school and is switching to a new uniform as a junior. She asked if she might be able to get hand-me-downs and/or books at a discounted price. (I am pretty sure she'll get bags full of things from this family). She also asked what I thought about taking $100 from her savings account.

I am blessed with kids who understand the value of the buck, especially when the funds are certainly limited giving the whole unemployed father and student-mother reality that we're gearing up for.

I was proud of her. I want her to appreciate her experiences and it is great that she is involved with making economic choices. And I know she is going to make this dance team and I hope she loves the whole experience. This is one of those joys of seeing kids grow up and "get it".

7 Responses to “Slicing the money pie or helping kids make wise choices”

Does she understand the time commitment for pom squad? I wouldn't be surprised if it is impossible to do both Irish dance and pom squad. Another thing to consider is the transportation commitment: practices, games, competitions. That could add up to the equivalent of commuting to a job/

The pom squad practices 3:30 to 5 on Tuesday/Thursdays for seven months (thru March). Irish dance is 7:15 - 9:00 on Mon/Wed so there isn't a conflict. She'll need to cut down on the ID competitions to be able to perform during football/basketball season, so I'm thinking that it should balance things out. And her older sister will be driving by then hopefully. Thanks for bringing those points up.